Jar lifter



Sept. 12, 1950 I A. WIELAND JAR LIFTER Filed Oct. 19, 1949 Bnventor .Lou

Patented Sept. 12, 1950 UNITED STATES PAT151N 1 OFI'CE JAR LnrrEn LouisA. Wieland, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Application October 19, 1949; Serial No. 122,333

(on. ass-33) I 1 Claim. 1

My. invention relates to" devices for lifting jars, bottles, and thelike, and is particularly designed forliftiughot Mason jars from an ovenor a boiler, or for lifting babies milk bottles from boiling water, orfor handling other articles which cannot or should not be touched byhand.

The invention is particularly, if not exclusively, directed toimprovements in jar lifters formed of a single length of metal wire orrod. The device is of tong construction, having two limbs or legs whichextend in crossed relation and terminate in jaws which engage underspring tension the article to be lifted. The two limbs essentiallyextend in crossed relation for service, and in accordance with theinvention means are provided. in the structure for preventing the limbsfrom becoming uncrossed and moved into inoperative position.

The invention will be understood upon reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Fig. l is a view in side elevation of a jar lifter embodying theinvention. The jar lifter is shown engaged upon the neck of a Mason jarherein i1 lustratcd fragmentarily;

Fig. 2 is a view of the jar lifter as seen from the bottom, with thejaws spread thedistance they stand apart when engaging the neck of a jarindicated by a dot-dash circle; and

Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation, showing the jar lifter in positionof rest.

The improved jar lifter is formed of a single length of resilient metalwire medially looped to form a coil spring 2, and extending from suchcoil spring in two limbs 3 and 4. The limbs are reversely curve-d intheir extent, and are arranged tO cross at a medial point 5. At theirdistal ends the limbs 3 and 4 are respectively provided with jaws 5 and'l curved to engage the neck of a Mason jar 8 (or other object to belifted) beneath the usual shoulder or bead 9 thereon. Between the point5 and the coil spring 2 the bodies of the legs are outwardly bowed,making the device readily accessible to the grasp of a human hand. Bysqueezing the two limbs in the hand, pressure is applied in thedirection of the arrows (Fig. 1), and under such pressure the stress ofcoil spring 2 is overcome, and the lower ends of the crossed limbs arespread into position to be readily applied to the neck of a jar, thespread position of the limbs being indicated in dotted lines, Fig. l.The inherent resilience of the coil spring 2, tending to urge the jaws 6and I towards each other, is instrumental in urging and securing thejaws with adequate clamping engagement with the neck of the jar,

coilsprins-v and; lift the jar without, the needofi maintainingmanuallyapplied pressure upon the lifting device. This use of the coilspring 2 as a lifting ring at the remote upper end of the device permitsthe user to keep his hand removed from the source of heat or steam thatmay envelop the jar at the time it is being lifted.

Due to the fact that the coil spring .2 constantly urges the crossedlimbs 3 and 4 to force the jaws 5 and 1 towards each ther and intosecure engagement with the interposed neck of the jar 8, it will beunderstood that when the device is quickly disengaged from the jar andreleased, or is otherwise roughly handled, there is a possibility butfor the improvements of this invention) that the jaws 6 and i may slipby one another and permit the limbs to become uncrossed and inoperative.

In accordance with my invention, a slip-ring l3 embraces the limbs 3 and4 of the structure. This slip-ring in no way interferes with the normalmanipulation and service of 'the jaw lifter, since the slip-ring ridesupwardly and downwardly upon the limbs 3 and 4 as such limbs are spreadand closed in service manipulations. This will be understood uponcomparing the positions of the parts in Figs. 1 and 2. An importantthing to note is that the slip-ring prevents the limbs 3 and s frombecoming uncrossed at any time.

Each of the jaws G and l is formed of the terminal portion f the wirebod of the limb that carries it. Such terminal wire body portion isbent, as at l 0, into a. plane that extends substantially normal to theadjacent body of the limb. In such plane the wire extends laterally fromone side of the limb in an arc to a bend II, and from such bend the wireis curved back upon itself, and continues in an are that extendslaterally from the opposite side of the limb. In each jaw the two arcsare complementary, forming a concave edge I2, and the concave edges l2of the two jaws cooperate to clamp the article to be lifted. It will beobserved in Fig. 3 that the limb l is formed somewhat shorter than thelimb 3, so that the jaw l is adapted to pass over the jaw 6 whenjaw-spreading pressure is removed from the device, The jaw l on the limb4 is thus adapted to swing across the jaw B and to abut against thelower end of limb 3, thereby maintaining the device in position torespond readily to jaw-spreading pressure on the upper, bowedportions ofthe limbs 3 and 4. This is a very nice feature, which facilitates theuse of the device, and eliminates the objection to the otherwisesuperior and desirable crossed-tongs type of lifter structure.

The application for these Letters Patent comprised acontinuation-in-part of application Serial No. 712,647, filed November27, 1946, and now abandoned. 7

Certain variations in details of structure described may be embodied inthe device without departing from the spirit of the invention, definedas follows.

I claim: 1

A jaw lifter comprising a coil spring having two limbs extendingtherefrom in reversely curved and crossed relation, said limbs crossingintermediate their extent and each limb terminating in a jar-engagingjaw, the jaw at the end of each limb being of arcuate shape as viewed ina, plane substantially normal to the end of the limb, with the concavityof curvature of the two jaws arranged in facing relation, said limbsbeing manipulative to spread said jaws into jar-receiving position undercompressive pressure applied to the limbs above their point of crossing,and a slip-ring embracing said limbs in position preventative of themovement of said limbs into uncrossed position, one of said limbs beingshorter than the other, whereby the curved jaw carried thereby isadapted, under the pressure of said coil spring, to pass above the otherjaw and abut the limb which carries it.

LOUIS A. WIELAND.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

